What is Standard Course of Herceptin

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Please comment on the Finnish protocol of giving 9 weekly administrations of Herceptin versus the 18 - three-weekly administrations that are currently done in the US.

Answer

Kevin Fox, MD, Medical Oncologist at Penn , responds:

The Finnish protocol treated a very small number of women, I believe fewer than 200. All of the other studies treated close to 10000 women with one year of herceptin. Although interesting, the weight of current evidence still favors a year of herceptin due to a larger sample of patients. Studies are being done to evaluate shorter courses of herceptin, but one year of treatment must still be considered standard.